Reiya the Apprentice
by JoshiejSF
Summary: A half Saiyan girl, called Reiya meets Vegeta during the Cell games. After Gohan defeated the green enemy, the Z fighters participate in the 25th Tournament and it's the first time that Reiya can show the others what she's really made of. But just when she's about to even enter the Tournament, something odd happens and the group gets involved in a dark case.
1. Chapter 1

The tournament had begun and all of the Z fighters were there. Goku was excited to see his son Goten and Gohan, who all grew up too fast to his liking.

Android 18 was there with Krillin and of course Bulma and Trunks.

The best friends, Trunks and Goten, were about to fight each other in one of the first rounds and Vegeta watched with a stoic face. His apprentice, Reiya took everything in with glee; she had never been to a fighting Tournament before and she was eager to see a match.

Her monkey tail waved around in happiness and she heard a low growl from Vegeta.

'Didn't I tell you to get rid of it?' he snarled when the young girl send him a short glare with her hazel eyes.

'Yes you did, but Goku told me that it gives me more power. As long as I don't look at the full moon, it shouldn't be a big deal if I keep it.' she exclaimed with determination, but she couldn't hide she was nervous when speaking to her sensei.

Letting out a snort of disagreement, Vegeta didn't mention it again and they all watched the match.

It was pretty exciting; Goten was really good and swift, but so was Trunks when he dodged almost all of his friend's punches and kicks. Suddenly, Goten blasted to the skies in order to deliver a final blow to Trunks, but he failed because the lilac haired boy jumped out of the way.

'Not fair!' Trunks shouted while his hair turned blond and his once blue eyes got a green hue.

Throwing a yellow blast that hit Goten in the back, the younger version of Goku was thrown out of the ring and with all his might, he managed to avoid a crash into the audience.

'Yeah, I did it! I'm the Champion!' Trunks screamed happily, jumping up and down in his Super Saiyan form.

His mother was cheering in the crowd for her son, Vegeta only snorted as a comment and Reiya threw her fist in the air enthusiastically.

'Well done, you guys!' she yelled to the both of them, because she didn't wanted to pick a side since she liked the two of them.

'That was a good fight. Now, Trunks will have to fight against Hercule!' Goku mentioned and Vegeta actually chuckled upon hearing that.

'So you meant to say that it's already clear who will win that match.'

Responding with a sheepish chuckle, Goku watched as his son left the ring and stood by the sideline to cheer his buddy on.

When Trunks beat Hercule with ease, it was time to chill out and rest up. The Z fighters went to get something to eat while the boys stayed outside at the Tournament ring.

Getting a table and ordering some food, it was obvious to see who were the real Saiyans. Goku and Vegeta were stuffing themselves as if they hadn't eaten in days, making Krillin, Reiya, Piccolo and Android 18 look like nothing.

With his mouth wide open with astonishment, Krillin watched the two Saiyans gulp down plates of food and he was shocked to see that there came even more!

'Hm. You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to this.' Piccolo responded, with slight disgust apparent in his voice and Android 18 could barely watch them scrunch and munch.

Reiya, who was sitting next to Krillin was eating silently and couldn't keep her eyes from Goku either, who seemed to be eating way faster than Vegeta, even though he too was having a feeding frenzy.

'Man Goku, you sure eat a lot for a dead guy.' Krillin said, still surprised and Reiya swallowed her food.

'Indeed, I didn't know it was even possible for you to even _eat _since you aren't supposed to be alive!' she included and Goku looked up, his eyes sparkling with joy.

'I just love to eat! And that's what King Kai always says!' was his remark and Krillin and Reiya looked at each other with a puzzled glare.

'Gee, I wonder why that is.' Reiya sighed while she finished her meal.

Meanwhile, Gohan and Videl entered the room.

'Gohan! How did the match between Trunks and Mr. Satan went?'

Goku still had his mouth full of food and Videl didn't really knew how to respond to it.

'Sorry that we had to leave so quickly, the guys were hungry so we had to find food. And fast.' Reiya exclaimed while she motioned towards Vegeta and Goku.

'That's okay, I know how my dad is!' Gohan grinned and he told them that Trunks had won. Vegeta couldn't help but put up a little smile when he heard the news; it was obvious that his son would win against that weird old man!

Eventually, Gohan and Videl joined the meal and suddenly, three Saiyans were munching like animals.

'Good grieves, you Saiyans are like bottomless pits, I swear!' Krillin blurted out when another plate of pasta and eggrolls were ordered. The great pile of dirty plates and bowls added to his comment and Videl raised an eyebrow.

'What's a Saiyan?' she asked and Gohan immediately choked on his rice and bent down to Krillin.

Reiya sighed when she saw Videl pull a face that said enough, so she took the girl outside to avoid any more mistakes from her small friend, and to have a real girl talk.

She had missed that, since she had been surrounded by men for so long and the only women she could talk to, were Bulma, Android 18 or Chi Chi and she didn't always wanted their company.

Outside, Reiya stretched her arms and legs and took a deep breath before facing Videl with a smile.

'Sorry about that, you get used to it after a while.' she told Videl, who still wasn't able to erase some images from her memory. She shook her head and leaned against the brick wall.

'I hope I'll ever get used to it.'

Reiya joined her and looked up at the clouds, a breeze played with her brown hair that she stuck up in a high pony tail, and her pointy fringe swayed in front of her eyes.

Videl's short, black hair was ruffled slightly by the wind as well and her light blue eyes adverted to some people in the distance.

'You really like Gohan, huh?'

Startled by the sudden comment, Videl felt her cheeks warm up and she waved her hands in front of her face in denial.

'W-what? I-I mean, he's nice but, I d-don't really like him _that _way!' she stuttered and Reiya chuckled behind her hand.

'Don't act like that! I see the look in your eyes when you're together with him.' Reiya whispered and Videl's face was as red as a tomato.

'Maybe! No! I don't know! He's very sweet, caring and a nice guy to hang around with, but I don't know how I feel about him.'

Reiya nodded and pushed herself off of the wall, winking at her friend with a mischievous grin on her face.

'Shall we find out then?'

'No! Don't ask him anything! I mean it, Reiya!'

Before Reiya could walk inside, she was almost overrun by Videl who had to make sure that she arrived at Gohan first, leaving the young Saiyan behind in awe.

'I was just joking.' Reiya giggled to herself when she dusted her clothes off.

Her eyes caught something and she looked up to see two people in the distance. They were on the stone isle, watching her with stern eyes and she swallowed.  
They didn't seem like trouble, but neither did she trust them and she quickly walked inside.

She almost bumped into Piccolo, who simply scowled at her and she exhaled in relief.

'I-I'm sorry Piccolo.'

'Is something wrong?'

She shook her head and flashed him a smile, trying to slip past him but he raised an arm to block her.  
Sighing, she stepped back to face him and he waited for a better answer.

'When you act all fake innocent like that, something must be up.' he said with low voice and she lowered her head to stare at his blue belt.

'Well, I was outside where I saw two guys standing on the path, and it seemed to me as if they were waiting for someone. They just gave me a bad feeling, that's all.' she told the green Namekian and he frowned while slowly dropping his arm.

'That's them?' he asked sternly and she nodded without looking up.

The others walked out to meet them and Videl watched Reiya carefully for any mischief, but when she noticed the change in the other girl's behavior, she quickly stopped by her side.

'Are you okay? I know you were just messing around, and I'm not angry or anything.' she apologized and Reiya couldn't contain her laughter when she heard the concern and worry in Videl's voice.

'That has nothing to do with it. I was just, surprised I guess.'

Hearing this, Vegeta turned his head to Reiya and the girl felt his cold stare, but she didn't look up to meet his gaze.

The group kept walking straight towards the strange duo, Reiya and Videl walked beside each other and the young Saiyan swallowed. She stayed close to Piccolo's side and the Namekian seemed to feel her anxiety, because he kept walking in the same pace to stay next to the girls.

Goku was in the front and even he was intrigued by the duo, that came closer to the group.

They were a mysterious duo indeed; one of them was as small as a nine year old child, while the other was large and bulky like a real fighting machine.

The small guy had light purple skin tone, dark eyes and silver hair, up in spikes and he wore yellow earrings.

The tall, muscular guy had a dark pink skin tone and seemed to lack emotion, for his expression was pretty gloomy. He too had silvery hair, but with a more minty hue and it was long and combed back.

Both men wore the same clothes as King Kai always had, but with more dark blue, red and orange colors.

Coming to a halt a few meters away from the duo, both parties seemed to observe one another and Reiya raised an eyebrow in confusion; who were these weird looking guys?

Sure did she met some creepy people lately, but these guys had something different that everybody seemed to recognize from somewhere, except for her.

Videl walked up to Gohan to ask him about the duo.

'Gohan, I'm getting some weird vibes from these two. Do you know who they are?' she whispered, but the boy didn't answer yet.

Reiya squinted her eyes a little to see them better.

'Piccolo, do you know them?'

Her voice was as soft as a whisper, but Piccolo heard it crystal clear and he inhaled slowly.

'No, but whatever they are doing here, it must be for a reason. And I'm not very eager to know what that is exactly.' he answered and Reiya clenched her fists to calm her nerves.

The small guy floated towards Goku and came to a halt before the Saiyan.

'Good afternoon. You wouldn't be Goku, by any chance?' he asked with smooth voice and surprised, Goku answered.

'Well, yeah. How did you know my name was Goku?'

'You see, your reputation precedes you. I was hoping to fight against you during the Tournament.' the small guy explained.

Taken aback, Goku did not utter a word and Reiya felt sick when she heard his voice; he really didn't feel right at all and Piccolo noticed. His eyes looked down to the girl, but of course she did not show how she was really feeling.

'It was an honor to meet you, and I really hope to see you soon in a match.' the small guy said and Reiya felt a sharp sting in her head and she groaned.

Piccolo turned sideways as he watched her carefully.

'Goku, may I shake your hand?' the small guy asked.

'Eh, sure! Of course. Great meeting you!' the Saiyan exclaimed while he shook the other's hand.

The moment when their hands touched, Reiya's vision became blurry and she gasped for air; what happened to her?

Her feet gave away and she fell on her knees, panting and trying her best to calm her rapidly beating heart. Everybody turned around and Videl rushed to her friend's side.

'Reiya! What's wrong? Re you okay?'

Trying to rise to her feet, Reiya send one last look towards the duo and she felt the piercing glare of the small man. He watched her so intensely that it made Reiya even more sick and instead of grinning like he did before, his face had changed rather serious.

Videl helped her friend stand up, but it was too much for the young Saiyan and with a loud groan, she once again fell down and was caught partially by Videl.

'Why is this happening to her? Gohan, help me!' Videl hissed, but nobody seemed to be too alarmed by it.

Piccolo took Reiya in his arms and watched as the girl went unconscious, exchanging looks with Goku who also turned to a more serious state. Vegeta squinted his eyes more in annoyance then worry, and Videl looked at her friend in concern.

Gohan put a hand on Videl's shoulders, telling her silently that it would be alright.

Feeling something odd as well when he released the man's hand, Goku looked back to meet the small guy again.

'Alright. Thank you, you're as brave as everyone says you are.' he said, gently landing on his feet and he bowed.

'Good day, I hope your friend will be feeling better soon.' was his last response before he walked away with the other man.

'Hey wait a second! I didn't catch your name!' Goku raised his voice and Piccolo kept a close eye on the strangers, holding the still unconscious Reiya.

Whatever happened to her, it had something to do with the small guy and his big friend, and he looked at Vegeta. The proud Saiyan felt his stare, but he ignored it and kept watching the duo as well.

Not responding to Goku's question, the duo walked away and the group watched them leaving.

'I don't like the feel of it, they're strong.'

Piccolo appeared next to Goku and the warrior watched Reiya, as she was restless and moaned in her forced sleep. Perspiration had formed on her forehead and Goku clenched his fists.

'Real strong. But isn't that what this Tournament is all about? Finding the unexpected challenge and seeing who emerges as the victor?' he said with determination in his voice and Vegeta disagreed with a grunt.

'I don't know, they don't seem all that strong to me, guys.' Krillin mentioned. 'To tell, the truth, I don't think they know what they're getting themselves into.'

'It doesn't matter if they're strong or not, they are trouble. Otherwise, Reiya wouldn't be responding so heavily upon their arrival.' Vegeta noted, for the first time he seemed to show some concern for his apprentice and Piccolo grumbled something.

'We have no choice but to wait until she wakes up. Meanwhile, we should focus on our next match and worry about them when we get to it.' Goku said and the others agreed.

Piccolo carried Reiya to one of the hospital rooms, accompanied by Krillin and Videl who would stay by her side until she woke up again.


	2. Chapter 2

It took a while before Reiya finally opened her eyes.

'Look, she's with us again!' the happy voice of Krillin boomed in her ears and Reiya groaned softly, putting a hand against her pounding head.

'We were so worried about you, Reiya! Can you remember why you suddenly passed out?'

Videl was there as well, after they knew who and when they were fighting, she and Krillin made their way back to Reiya. The girl was happy to see her caring friends and she slowly sat up in her bed.

Seeing that Videl was getting used to all the weird stuff around them, Reiya let her tail fall loosely over the side of the bed, earning an astonished glare from Videl.

Watching with anticipation, Krillin and Videl noticed that Reiya still wasn't completely there yet and they were hoping that she would be able to meet the others.

'You sure you're okay? Maybe it's for the best if you lay down for a while.' he asked worried but Reiya shook her head.

'I'm fine, thanks guys.' She looked around the room for a second. 'Where are the others? Don't tell me they already started the matches?' Reiya cried out in despair and Videl soothingly waved her hand.

'They did, but you only missed Krillin's match so far. I think Piccolo is about to start his match.'

'Really? Who is his opponent?'

'That purple guy, his name is Shin.'

Reiya's eyes grew wider when she heard who Piccolo was up against, and she lowered her head while sighing. Swinging her foot over the edge of her bed Reiya stood up and tried to keep her balance.

Good thing she kept her tail; it kept her from toppling over!

She succeeded after some wobbling to stand up and with some help of Videl, they made their way to the waiting rooms.

'By the way, do I have to fight as well?' Reiya asked when they entered the room and Videl opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted.

'No, because of your inability to participate in a match, it was decided that you were disqualified for this Tournament.'

The loud and snappy reply came from Vegeta, he was leaning against the wall and came up to see them. His dark eyes had an angry glow in them, it made Videl shiver a little and everyone turned to silently greet Reiya.

Gohan smiled and put two fingers beside his head and Android 18 gave a soft, but upbeat smirk. Krillin winked at her happily before joining his wife and Videl glanced at Reiya, who simply gave a nod and took her arm off of Videl's shoulders.

'Thanks Videl, I think I'll be able to stand on my own now.' she said with a joking smile on her face and the other girl nodded before running to Gohan for an update of Piccolo's match.

Vegeta stood still in front of Reiya, who slowly looked up to look him in the eye.

Goku watched them carefully; he knew fully well how Vegeta could react when he was angered or irritated, but it was no excuse for him to let it all out on Reiya.

'I'm disappointed in you, Reiya. If I had known that you were so weak, I would've trained with you a lot harder!' he hissed and the girl averted her eyes, but kept her composure against her sensei.

He was right.

She didn't know what happened a few hours ago, but the purple man had caused her to faint. There was no other explanation to why she suddenly collapsed, because she felt like she could take on the world before the group had met the two strangers.

'I-I am sorry, Vegeta. You're right, it's my own fault that I was disqualified. I'll do my best to set this right, I promise.'

'Whatever. When we get back home, I'll make sure you will get stronger.' Vegeta had to clench his fists to keep his anger under control and he jerked his head away from her. 'Whether you like it or not, I will not let you become a sitting duck for any enemies.' he hissed before walking away.

Reiya trembled slightly, feeling a shiver running along her spine and she closed her eyes. She jumped a little when a hand was placed gently on her shoulder; it was Goku and she quickly cleared her throat.

'Y-you were watching that?'

Her voice cracked a little and Goku nodded.

'Don't be upset about this. You know how proud Vegeta is and he wants you to make him proud as well. You already do, he just didn't see it enough to acknowledge that.'

His words made Reiya smile and she looked at him in thanks.

'I will do my best to show him then.' was her answer and Goku flashed her his characteristic smile.

There was cheering outside; the match between Piccolo and Supreme Kai had begun.

'Let's watch Piccolo's match and after that, you must try to remember what happened out there, okay?' Goku said and the girl nodded in agreement.

They watched by the window and Reiya hoped to get some answers to why she got such a weird feeling, when looking at this Shin.

It seemed that Piccolo too felt the same thing, because after minutes of staring at Shin, he gave up.

Out of nowhere, he quit the match.

'What? Does Piccolo quit?' Gohan asked in surprise and Goku was just as taken aback as his son.

It even shocked Shin himself, glancing at the green man in confusion when he turned around and walked away.

'D-Does this mean you quit the match?' the announcer asked in confusion when he watched Piccolo, as the Namekian left the ring.

'Yes, it does.' he replied solemnly and he met up with the group in the waiting room.

'Well you heard him! That makes Shin the winner by default!' the announcer quickly announced and the audience cheered a little, not sure if they should be excited or confused.

Reiya wasn't very surprised about Piccolo's sudden withdrawal and she looked at the purple man, who seemed to have felt her stare, for he looked back at her.

Gasping slightly, she didn't took her eyes off of him and neither did he. It was until Piccolo called her that Reiya was able to look away from his piercing eyes.

'Reiya!'

'Y-Yes, Piccolo?'

'How are you doing? You should take all the time you need to rest up, while you still can.'

'I'm just fine, there has to be a lot more coming at me to take me out forever.' she said, her voice was again soft as if she was afraid to speak.

It had intrigued Piccolo from the moment he met her; she was a silent, introvert girl who did not seemed worthy of carrying the Saiyan genes, but when angered, she transformed into a completely different person.

Even Vegeta had nothing to say about her when she was in an infuriated state.

In a way, she was just as Gohan and like he had grown fond of the young boy as a good friend, it was the same as with Reiya.

'What did you feel when you saw him for the first time?'

Reiya lowered her head and didn't hear Vegeta entering the room; he had calmed down and was just in time to hear some news about Shin and his friend.

'When Goku shook his hand, I could feel his real power level. It was incredible, I've never felt a power level that strong before.' She looked up to look at Goku, with a mixed expression of sadness and fear on her face. 'Not even Goku could match it.'

The group was shocked and at a loss for words.

'That strong? Impossible; nobody can defeat our Goku!' Krillin yelled after a long silence.

'Wish that was true, Krillin. Remember Cell? Because of a stupid disease, my dad was almost a goner! I believe her when she says that this Shin is very strong, and that he could match my dad.' Gohan explained to a hysterical Krillin, but that didn't calm his nerves at all.

'What else did you feel, Reiya?' Piccolo pressed on, his tone of voice calm and soothing to her in a way.

She swallowed as she suddenly noticed Vegeta in the corner, immediately failing to find the right words.

'I-I'm sorry. I don't know, he's just too powerful.' she exclaimed and the Namekian growled underneath his breath.

He walked away without saying a word and the others let him go; it wasn't easy to quit a match. Like Vegeta, Piccolo had his pride and that was hammered at the moment. Reiya sighed as Shin walked passed her to leave the arena.

He stopped next to her, turning his head to face her with a smile.

'I see you are awake. I am sorry that you couldn't participate in the Tournament because of your current state.' he said in a smooth voice, the voice that she hated already and she inhaled sharply.

'She does not need your pity.' the low growl of Vegeta came from behind her and Reiya felt her nerves calm down again.

Shin glanced at the man behind her, not intimidated at all by him and he walked away, with his friend close behind him.

Vegeta scowled in irritation and they all watched as Videl was next; against a muscle machine called Spopovitch.

The girl put up an amazing fight, kicking and punching him wherever she could. Gohan cheered Videl on, hoping that she would at least survive the match against the big freak she was fighting.

When Videl managed to kick the man to the ground, he lay still and everyone was cheering for her. Slightly out of breath, Videl could not enjoy her short victory, for Spopovitch rose to his feet.

With little effort, he pushed himself back up and the look in his eyes was mad; he would kill Videl on the spot!

All of the Z fighters noticed the change in his eyes and tried to warn Videl, but the stubborn girl didn't give in.

'I will not give up this fight!' she yelled and with renewed energy, she began to attack Spopovitch again and she managed to knock him down on the ground for three times.

Every time he went down, Spopovitch came back up and didn't seemed tired or hurt at all by her attacks. Suddenly, after a harsh kick against his neck, something terrible happened and the audience was shocked.

'W-What did she just do?' Krillin stuttered when he saw the twisted neck of Spopovitch.

With a loud thud he fell to the ground and it seemed that Videl would've win the match, but also could be disqualified because of the critical state Spopovitch was in.

However, the muscle machine rose again, to everyone's surprise and Reiya clasped her hands in front of her mouth, to shocked to speak.

Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo stared in awe as the man began to attack Videl with so much anger, that the tables were turned in a second. He began to smash the girl up and down, even keeping her from falling out of the ring so that he could "play" around with her some more.

She was getting pretty beat up, and especially Gohan couldn't stand to see her in so much pain.

'We have to stop him; now!' the youngster growled while he flared up his power level, but Goku send him a warning glare.

'No Gohan, you are _not _going out there! You can't go up there to help her! Don't do it, son.'

Vegeta exchanged looks with Goku and they both knew that if Videl did not step out of the match herself, Spopovitch would surely ignore the rules and kill her. He already kept his real power at bay when he fired a purple energy blast earlier, but Vegeta was sure that it would've killed Videl if he wanted to.

The girl was beaten numb by Spopovitch and he didn't seem to stop, enjoying the pained expression on her face and hearing her scream in agony.

With a loud scream, Gohan couldn't take it anymore as he rushed forward towards the arena. Before he could step in though, a smaller man appeared and commanded Spopovitch to finish it.

Slightly disappointed, Spopovitch threw the girl out of the ring and Gohan scooped her up in his arms.

'Spopovitch!' he snapped and the duo stopped while looking over their shoulder.

'I swear that we will settle this! I will meet you in a match and I will win!' Gohan growled infuriated and with a final sarcastic laugh, Spopovitch and Yamu jumped over the wall of the arena.

'Good that it's over. Krillin, do you have any Senzu beans?' Goku asked but his friend shook his head.

'No, I don't. Sorry Goku, I didn't expected to really need them today.' he apologized and Goku put two fingers against his forehead.

'Alright, then I'll go and meet Korin. We need those Senzu beans, I'll be back in a sec!'

Disappearing into thin air, Reiya hadn't seen Goku done that before and she had to stop herself from gawking like an idiot. Vegeta walked away and Reiya turned around.

'Wait!' Her sensei did wait, but he did not turn around. 'Are you still mad at me? I promise to train very hard, I will not let you down again!'

It took a while before he reacted, but he turned around and looked at her intensely.

'Next time something like this happens again, don't let me be there to see it. Don't you understand that whatever happens to you, has consequences to me as well? The great Vegeta, teaching a weakling all the ins and outs of being a true Saiyan?'

Reiya listened to him and accepted his words and his emotions.

'I do not want you to be like that, even though you're only half Saiyan like Kakarot's kid.' he grumbled a little before he continued. 'And mine.'

He walked towards her and stood still when he was in front of her, she could hear him breath faster than normal and she knew he could lash at her for punishment.

She gasped softly when she felt his hand on top of her head, as a sign that he wasn't angry at her anymore and his breathing went back to normal.

'Maybe that's why I am so strict on you and my own son; because I don't want to see you fail and follow the consequences of it.' he said, his voice had changed and Reiya dared to slowly lift her head to face him.

'How could I fail, when I have an amazing mentor who teaches me everything I need to know?' she said and after a short silence, Vegeta smirked and ruffled her hair a little before he walked away.

Smiling for the first time, Reiya watched him and she suddenly remembered Videl; now that she had made up with Vegeta, she needed to check on her friend!


End file.
